It had been a normal day as Scootaloo left the schoolhouse at noon. It was Thursday, the dreadful week of boring lessons almost over, yet Scootaloo was sighing non-stop. “I hate school.....” she exclaimed in annoyance as she trotted over the schoolgrounds, pulling her scooter alongside her. It was not very apparent to the outside, most of the time, but she did.
Behind her, Miss Cheerilee was saying goodbye to a few fillies who were just leaving the schoolhouse and wished them a happy afternoon. Another deep sigh escaped Scootaloo's throat as she climbed on her scooter and began to ride it away from the school.
Miss Cheerilee was a nice teacher. So unlike the strict teachers in Canterlot or even Manehattan Scootaloo had heard about from ponies who had visited the quaint little town for summer vacation. And she always did everything to make the lessons as exciting as possible for herself and the other fillies and colts. Yet, nothing of it could really captivate her.
Sometimes, she even felt like the lessons weren't of any use for her, like she couldn't learn anything from them and would just waste her time sitting in the classroom. Of course this wasn't true and Scootaloo knew this, deep inside of her, but it was only her brain that understood this, not her heart.
Scootaloo's look became absent as she made her way down the street to her house. Colorful scenes appeared in her head, of herself, riding her scooter, jumping over the roofs of Ponyville and doing the most awesome stunts imagineable, with ponies standing on the ground and looking up to her, cheering and gasping, and one certain, rainbow-maned pegasus among them flying in the air close by and cheering the loudest..... The bubble of her dream popped as she saw a tree entering her field of vision. The filly jumped aside, causing the wheels of her scooter to produce an awful, screeching sound, but she prevented herself from colliding head-on with the tree in the very last moment.
Looking at the thick trunk of the oak tree whose branches towered high above her and that was planted right in front of the townhall, probably from the first settlers that came into this region of Equestria, she breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly, and with a fearful expression on her face, she checked the wheels of her scooter. As she couldn't find any damage, she continued her way, her heart bumping faster, but still with the remains of the boredom she had felt during the whole morning.
Sitting in the classroom for hours on end just wasn't something for her. All the time she could have spent practicing with her scooter..... All of it went to waste while she listened to the voice of her teacher in the tiny schoolhouse. And the new streaming they had now didn't make the day any easier.
Scootaloo groaned. That was, for a change, an aspect of going to school in Equestria's smallest town that had disadvantages over the schools in Manehattan, Canterlot or other big cities. Ponyville had about half as many schoolfoals as those cities, but the funds were smaller and therefore, the local elementary school was as well. With only one classroom and only one teacher, there was no other way as bulk-educating Ponyville's foals, with a group of foals in one week and another one in the next. Which also meant that every single day during the week was completely dominated by one subject, to allow the Ponyville foals to learn as much as the foals in schools with an ordinary schedule did.
This was a system that came with the advantage that there was always a group of foals who did not have to visit school at all in a given week, but the two disadvantages it had simultaneously were grave and outweighed the one advantage by far.
The first one was that the foals who did not have to go to school got a lot more homework to do in this week than they did during a school week, which was something Scootaloo could live with. She was a fast learner and the desire to be outside on her scooter again spurred her even more, so she usually finished all the assignments on the first day of the week, allowing her to have almost a whole week of freetime.
The second one was far worse, though. Sometimes, the streaming got switched and the composition of the groups changed. Every few weeks, students got pulled out of their current group and put into another. The idea behind this was to bring students of different skill levels together, so that the weaker students could learn from the better ones and the better ones could pass on their knowledge to foster the weaker students. It was a very effective system, and necessary to get all the subject matters of one school year done with the limited ressources Ponyville Elementary had, but it also resulted in not always having your friends in the same group with you. And that was exactly the case in this week.
Scootaloo shuddered a little as she thought back on the announcement of the change a week ago and how she had to find out that neither Apple Bloom nor Sweetie Belle would be in a group with her for a few weeks. Both the earth pony and the unicorn she was friends with were now together in a group that was slated for school in the following week.
Of course this had happened in the past a few times as well, and she was sort of used to this circumstance, but it was unpleasant nonetheless and just made school even more boring for her. To Scootaloo's luck in those weeks, her other unicorn friend, Dinky, always got put into the same group as her every time Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle didn't. Both of them, neither Scootaloo nor Dinky, did understand why they always landed in the same group in such weeks.
A smile appeared in Scootaloo's face. There was this one day, right after they had heard they would be in a group together for the third time in a row, and the memories of this day now flooded the young pegasus' mind. They were sitting on a bench near the schoolhouse, talking about being always part of the same group when Scootaloo needed it in amazement. None of them could come up with any logical explanations for this occurrence and eventually, they agreed that this was not a coincidence, but destiny that always brought them together like this. The fact that they had so many things in common just added to this belief.
A warm feeling spread out in Scootaloo's chest as she began thinking on all the things she shared with her friend. They liked the same comics, they adored the same characters in those comics, even though they were just background characters that were deemed as unimportant by most readers, and they pretty much agreed on everything, their minds aligned like they never experienced it with other ponies before. One day, during a casual conversation, they even found out they were both born under the same zodiac sign! Neither of them doubted that destiny had brought them together and that they were truly meant to be friends.
And it came as no surprise for both of the two close filly friends that they found themselves in the same group once more as the new group compositions got announced. Today, though, something was very much different:
Dinky had not come to school.
Scootaloo did not know why; maybe she was sick, maybe she was skipping school for a day, something Scootaloo would be the last pony to call her out on, but whatever it was, Dinky was not here and so, the morning that lied behind her was the most boring one the speedster filly could remember in months. And of course she was worried too, after all, Dinky had never missed a day of school before when they were in the same group.
Scootaloo clenched her teeth a little and, buried in thoughts of what might have happened to her unicorn friend that prevented her from attending school today, she did not notice that she had arrived at the doorstep of her house. Only as she ran with one hoof into the stairs at the entrance, she realized where she was. Scootaloo yelped and rubbed her hoof.
Carefully, she carried her scooter up the few steps, then opened the door, slipped inside and closed it behind her. One hoof still at her scooter, she slumped down and kept sitting with her back at the door for a few seconds, now feeling happiness over finally being at home.
Scootaloo grinned. She got up on her hooves again and placed her scooter with care at the side of the entrance door, then bolted up the stairs to her room. There was no homework today, meaning she could get back onto her scooter and fill the afternoon with stunts even earlier than usual. A whoop of joy rang out of Scootaloo's mouth. All she would do was grabbing some fastfood for lunch, then dropping in at Dinky's to see if she was alright and then she had the afternoon all for herself. Except, if the purple-grey unicorn filly should decide to join her, to admire her stunts, something which Scootaloo always welcomed and that made her afternoons even better.
Inside of her room, Scootaloo carelessly tossed the saddlebags behind her bed, then she turned around and already rushed outside of it again. Or, at least she would have done so, if it weren't for the pony that was suddenly blocking her way to the corridor in front of her room. Scootaloo came to an abrupt halt before she could bump into her friend.
“Hey, Dinky! I totally didn't see you standing there, I'm sorry!” Scootaloo apologized to the little unicorn, her face wearing a sheepish smile.
Dinky did not answer Scootaloo's apology and just stared at her, wordlessly and with empty eyes. Yet there was no sign of being furious with Scootaloo in her face. Instead, her eyes indicated sadness and her lips trembled, the lower one sticking out, making it look thicker than her upper lip. A few tears began to well up in her eyes, falling just short of flowing out of them and over her cheeks. Before Scootaloo even noticed the sad condition of her friend, Dinky began to speak quietly.
“I-I got some terrible news today, Scoots.” She choked. “I don't know if I can see you again..... Ever.....”
Like a barrage of sledgehammers, the words came down on Scootaloo. The orange pegasus felt her heart sinking down into her stomach.
“What?! What happened?!” she asked bewildered, her face full of shock now.
“M-My mom loses the house we live in because she can't afford paying for it right now. And that means we have to move away from Ponyville to live with some relatives at the other end of Equestria.” Dinky's legs began to shake, everything was suddenly swaying in front of her.
“Your mom had to pay installments for your house? I thought she owns it. Who is she paying for living there?” Scootaloo asked, surprised and shocked in equal measures.
Slowly, Dinky shook her head. “No, she doesn't. I said it's our house, but that's only as long as we pay for it, Scoots.” A tear was trickling down her face now. “The job as a mailmare doesn't get you enough bits to buy a whole house, so mom has to pay Ponyville Real Estates with a small amount every month until she doesn't owe them any money anymore,” she added after wiping a hoof over her cheek.
Disbelief appeared in Scootaloo's eyes. “And they don't give her more time? Why?”
“Dumb reasons.....” Dinky answered taut, her voice now tearful. She stopped talking and moved one foreleg over her eyes, trembling all over the body, with heavy sobs escaping her throat. “F-First they said they will speak to her about it, but then we got this letter today and now there is no hope anymore.....” the distraught filly managed to say between her sobs.
Scootaloo had a lump in her throat. She was not crying, but a cold feeling of fear permeated her chest, bringing her very close to it.
Carefully, she stretched out a hoof and put it around her crying friend, then she led Dinky over to her bed, where they sat down. Having brought Dinky into a more comfortable position, Scootaloo asked another question.
“How much money would you need to stay in your house?”
Dinky wiped away her tears, a slight glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes as she looked at her winged friend.
“Not a whole lot..... Mom lost her job, but she found a new one and can start with it next month, but there is no way for her to have income this month. She still needs about 200 bits for this month's installment, I think.”
“Ok.” Scootaloo nodded, the shock still present in her voice, but her eyes also reflecting determination now. “Give me a moment, I need to check something quickly.”
Without awaiting an answer by her friend, Scootaloo got up and moved over to her desk at the other side of the room, where she started rummaging frantically. The gears in her head turned lightning-fast as numbers and calculations rushed through her mind. As the gears stopped turning and she knew everything she needed, she returned to her bed and took once more seat at the side of Dinky, who now eyed her expectantly.
Without wasting any time, Scootaloo came to the point. “Okay, that should do it,” she said, now in a much calmer tone than during the whole time since Dinky had appeared at the doorstep of her room. “I have saved up more than 500 bits, 200 won't scratch me too much.”
Dinky looked at Scootaloo wordlessly, her eyes displaying confusion over the mysterious words. Then the confusion slowly turned into realization.
“Scoots, I can't just..... That is too generous of you.” Dinky shook her head, refusing to accept the offer.
“Yes, you can,” Scootaloo answered, her voice having a strong and desperated tone now. “And you must. I know that you rely a lot on living here in Ponyville and how important it is for you.” All of a sudden, Scootaloo's eyes showed a sorrowful expression. “And there's something else to this, something I didn't tell you yet.....”
For just a small moment, Scootaloo hesitated before she continued to speak.
“I know, you told me how hard life is for you and your mom sometimes since your dad left and how much you need my support as a friend, but what you don't know yet is that the same goes for me in regards to you too.” Scootaloo's voice grew more intense. “I have two other awesome friends. But before I met them, other ponies just showed me the cold shoulder all the time. There were those bullies that constantly picked on me because I can't fly and even if I had friends, they either moved away, turned out as dumbflanks who turned on me one day and didn't accept me anymore or they revealed themselves as just using me for their own entertainment so they could show me their great, classical games and brag with those only to suddenly drop me in passing after a few months.....”
With every word, Scootaloo's voice became more agitated. Dinky's face grew paler and paler while listening to the words of the young pegasus.
“Before I met Sweetie Belle, I didn't have any real friends and everypony was just betraying me all the time. And even Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are not perfect. They are great friends and I love them, but even they don't fully understand me sometimes. I don't have any other friends that are so aligned with me and understand me so much.”
Scootaloo's eyes were pleading now. “The truth is, I really need you. Just in the last few days, I realized how much I do.” She paused for a moment, catching her breath.
“The truth is, I would simply be lost without you..... I can't have you getting ripped away from me like this now, by that stupid fate. I couldn't cope with this, I would not be able to. And 200 bits are a small price to pay, compared to the alternative.....”
Now feeling weak, Scootaloo let her shoulders hang and eyed the floor in front of her bed.
Dinky was quiet. She just stared at her friend, her eyes having grown wide and her mouth gaping open after the unexpected, heartfelt confession. Scootaloo's eyes were red and she looked like she was starting to cry soon.
Instinctively, Dinky turned her upper body towards her now distraught friend, lifted her hooves and pulled Scootaloo into a warm hug. As Scootaloo felt the gentle gesture, she lifted her own hooves and wrapped them around Dinky, resting her head on the unicorn's shoulder and pressing her face against hers.
“I will never let go,” Dinky said, completely overwhelmed by what she had just heard. Her voice was gentle and sad.
“Please let me give you that money. There is a way out of this.” Scootaloo squeezed Dinky tighter. “This is a horrible nightmare right now..... But I'll turn it into a pleasant dream.”
The doubt and the hesitation vanished from Dinky's face. In an instant, both of the two expressions were gone and got replaced by empathy, happiness and compassion.
Dinky nodded at Scootaloo's cheek. “Okay,” she said. “I take it.” She tightened the grip around her pegasus friend.
“I feel broken inside right now.” Scootaloo choked a little and squeezed her friend even tighter.
“You don't need to. I'm not going anywhere, Scoots, not anymore.” A few tears of joy got shed by Dinky. “This is amazing, Scoots! You seriously are the best! I can't believe you're doing this for me.”
Tenderly, Dinky placed a thankful kiss on Scootaloo's cheek.
For a few minutes, the two fillies remained in their embrace, enjoying each other's company and hugging each other while revelling in the joy over having found a solution for their shared problem.
Dinky pulled out of the embrace with her friend gently. Wiping the last of the tears out of her eyes, she smiled at Scootaloo happily, an expression that got returned by the young pegasus filly.
“Let's go now,” Scootaloo said then. “Let's get your mom this money, so that you can continue to live here in Ponyville and we can stay together.” She smiled at her friend.
Dinky nodded, her cheeks now red from excitement and happiness. “Okay,” she said, deeply moved. “Let's go and take care of it!”
Scootaloo replied with a broad grin. She stepped at her desk again quickly, took the needed money out of her coin bank, then returned at Dinky's side.
“Okay, I've got all we need! Let's move!”
Dinky crushed her friend with another enthusiastic hug, then the two fillies dashed out of the room, down the stairs and through the entrance door, making their way to Dinky's house, both of them laughing, relieved over not becoming separated now.....